Keeping Visual Effects in Los Angeles

Main menu

Post navigation

So, it begins.

Well, it looks like VFX Soldier has started the campaign to reign in subsidies.

This is an important step in reclaiming at least part of the industry. This gives everyone a chance at a more equal playing field.

Between this and a union, there may be some real control over our lives as the industry grows and we become established like grips, painters, electricians, directors and writers. All of whom have guilds or unions to help them with an industry that is notoriously fickle.

Let us join together with one voice to help staunch the flow of creative blood that is having to leave California and leave families behind only to find less work, with more hours and no job security.

Can you guys please stop always talking about ‘everyone’? This is pretty annoying, the only one you are helping are American/California based artists. The rest will get completely fucked up by this, excuse my French, but that’s how it is. I understand your intentions and I understand you feel that it is your Industry (even if it’s not) but please stop saying your actions are so good for everyone, they are not.

That’s not true. Depending on the area you live, all of this may affect you. If you live in Canada, you may very well out of work in a year or two because all of the work went to Mexico. This affects all of us.

You clearly have not worked in the industry if you are saying its not impacting everyone. I, and several others, have been hit hard by the industry moves and subsidies. Particularly those who live in LA area have seen all the jobs that used to be in Los Angeles move to Canada, Mexico, Europe, and other overseas countries. I personally have been told by Executive Producers at Major companies that they are always looking for the “tax” loop-wholes and subsidies. If it cost them 1/10th to make the film in Canada than what it costs in LA, you are willing to bet the jobs will move to Canada.

What is worse, is when you have to leave to Canada because its the only job available but you now are left with “no health, no dental, and no vision care” for several months between the job you left to the new job you have. Thats assuming your new job even has healthcare coverage.

On top of that. Each country has different rules on how to pay employees. So if you do the math. You will actually, in most case, take a pay cut moving from a LA job to Canada for example. That does not include the double tax you will get for working both in the US and Canada for the first year you work if you work some months in one country then in another. In the end is it really worth it. YES, for the companies, NO for the employees.

Subsidies bring business to a country, but they do not keep the business in the country. The minute another country has a loop-whole the business will start to move to that new location.

Yes, Vancouver is keeping the ball in the air longer, but taxpayers are eventually going to start wondering why a portion of their paycheck is being given to rich people who don’t need the money, to bribe an unrelated industry into the city, only to fill many of the seats with displaced laborers from Los Angeles rather than Vancouver residents. Or another city will dig deeper and put out a sweeter deal, and Vancouver will lose those jobs to the same game. Other locations are already trying.

This is the case with any artificially inflated bubble. Vancouver is very expensive even compared to LA, and that’s saying something. What, other than the subsidies, makes it a better place to do vfx? Vancouver’s worry should be how they intend to deflate that bubble and be a competitive location for VFX without the presence of subsidies. Until then that industry in that location is in an unstable situation. It’s not much different from a starving student working for free; it will gain you plenty of work at first, but the money will run out eventually and something will have to change.

Not that Vancouver doesn’t have plenty going for it. The subsidies have bought you guys a lot of training and infrastructure, and all of the vfx behemoths have invested heavily in that location. Right now all of the large companies tag-team with their Vancouver locations because their local facilities aren’t large enough for their peak production load. None of that will change quickly if subsidies go away in general, but Vancouver will have to react in some way.